Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Sam Doucet
Life and death. Right and wrong. Gods and mortals. The story of Faust, now centuries old, is a tale many times retold but always rife with moral quandaries and philosophical implications.
Continue reading “Album Review :: Mahogany Frog :: Faust”
by Broose Tulloch
The WSO’s New Music Festival and prog-rockers Mahogany Frog have more in common than you might think. Like this year’s theme, “Beyond” both continue to grow and explore new directions. Under the guidance of WSO Artistic Director Alexander Mickelthwate, the New Music Festival has added a late night component, Pop Nuit, to explore new music that blurs the lines between pop and classical.
Mahogany Frog began with prog-rock exploration of the blues (Mahogany Frog Plays The Blues) and have grown into an experimental electronic rock group exploring psychedelia, a shift that began with 2004’s Mahogany Frog vs. Mabus. The music of Mahogany is at once accessible and undeniably rock yet also strangely new; complex yet cohesive; making the quartet, comprised of Jesse Warkentin (guitar/keyboards), Graham Epp (guitar/keyboards/trumpet), Scott Ellenberger (bass/keyboards/trumpet), and Andy Rudoph (drums/electronics), a perfect fit for Pop Nuit. Stylus talked to Graham Epp and Scott Ellenberger about the music of Mahogany Frog. Continue reading “Big Fun / Pop Nuit :: Mahogany Frog”
Photo of SoHoly HeadCase by Taylor Burgess.
More or less, as typed into Taylor Benjamin Burgess‘ CrackBerry throughout the night:
In tents! Some people have brought tents to sleep over for this night, the last show of Absent Sound, as Rob Menard is relocating to Montreal. It seems to be a pretty low-key artsy thing, with film loops being projected on the bands. The ten dollar cover definitely is going to weed some people out—but the motley lineup and the legacy of Absent Sound is sure to make an interesting night, if nothing else. Continue reading “In Tents! // 10-22-11 // The Warehouse”
By Scott Wolfe
One of Winnipeg’s most thrilling live acts is releasing their first full-length in July on local family label Transistor 66. I sat down at the Legion in the Exchange District with band members Julia Ryckman, J.P. Perron, and, later on, Patrick Short for some cheap beverages and to exchange a few words with this local trio regarding their highly-anticipated debut.
Stylus: To begin, out of curiosity I have got to know, why This Hisses and not The Hisses?
J.P. Perron: It’s kind of a weird iteration I guess, but not really. There is actually a funny quote addressing that on the new album. [Reads] When attempting to enunciate the group’s moniker, most tend to slur over the words carelessly, gurgling some incoherent mumble. However, such a cavalier introduction to This Hisses is calamitous at best.
Stylus: Brilliant and accurate, as I clearly demonstrated when this interview began.
JPP: Yeah I do that as well just the other day I called us The Hisses. People tend to like it though, however I can imagine that radio announcer would not.
Julia Ryckman: Also, ‘this’ is a word that hisses, which adds to our name.
Stylus: Each of you have been submerged in the Winnipeg music scene before with other acts such as The Gorgon [Julia], Mahogany Frog [J.P.] and Under Pressure and Electric Candles [Patrick Short]. But how did This Hisses come to be?
JR: When The Gorgon broke up, I had some songs I wanted to try and I thought of Pat because we had talked and jammed before. I also wanted to work with J.P. because he had always been my favourite drummer in Winnipeg and I knew he was available because he had just moved back from Montreal. I asked him at a party if he wanted to jam, but he was very guarded. Continue reading “This Hisses – Super Sibilant”